The Placebo Effect
by aliasmel1
Summary: Hermione Granger has always tried to make the world a better place, when she learns Severus Snape is in St Mungo's all alone in a coma without a person in the world to care for him, she takes it upon herself to sit with him and show him some kindness. They said he would never recover, she said she would never lose faith.
1. Chapter 1

The Placebo Effect

Every week she would show up and sit quietly with him, just reading a book or talking about her life. At first, she had felt incredibly stupid for doing so to a man who couldn't hear her, a man who wasn't even alert to his own existence, let alone his surroundings, but she pushed through and now it became second nature to her.

He looked so peaceful lying in that bed, he hadn't changed much in the year he had been there, his hair a little longer maybe and a small beard had started to grow which lessened the harsh lines in his face. She felt she owed this to him; for all that he had sacrificed. It had broken her heart when she knew he had no one and nothing, alone in the cold world that had fucked him over more than once.

The nurses had gotten to know her by name, but to them, she would always be the girl that came to visit the dour man with no friends. Most studied under his tutelage at Hogwarts, most scared of him, then and now still. But Hermione wasn't. She saw him for what he was and who he was.

She had taken to having conversations with him almost as if she had expected him to answer, but that was just silly. The venom from Nagini rendered him totally paralyzed and in a coma, needing machines and magic to do his breathing for him. The doctors had talked many a time about turning off the life support but she would never allow it, she had taken it upon herself to become his next of kin, she didn't care if she had to pay for his medical care herself.

They would often tell her he was a hopeless case, they would never find a cure for the venom, he would never wake up, and if he did he wouldn't be the same person, but she refused to believe them. In the cold, harsh world that he had been thrust in his entire life, he deserved a few years of kindness shown to him, even if it was from her, someone who he had loathed with every fiber of his being.

And yet, she still showed up, she still read to him and she still wanted him to wake up. Hermione Granger wasn't a person to easily give up on anyone or anything; her friends always told her she would take her last breath trying to save the world and make it a better place. She would just smile and say, "It is better to have tried to make a change, than side idly by and contribute nothing to society."

They didn't know she came here once a week though, no one did except the doctors and the nurses. She didn't want anyone to know, she liked to be left alone. She lived alone on a little cottage perched atop a large hill miles from anyone and this is exactly how she liked it. She didn't need to surround herself with people to feel complete, she was happy with her own company. She didn't want a relationship right now, as much as she loved Ron and Harry, she just wanted time to relax and find herself before she settled down.

And now, here she was again, another week, another visit. Soft pale flesh ghosted over his hand that rested peacefully on his stomach, she had found self gently touching his hand or pushing his hair behind his ear in an affectionate manner on almost every visit. She almost felt as if she knew him.

Her touch never ever garnered a reaction and she knew it probably never would, be she still liked to treat him as if he were a human being. His hand twitched beneath her own skin so feather-light she had thought she imagined it. She shook her head roughly dismissing the flinch beneath her warm hand as she began to read from the book she had brought along today.

 **A/N: I really, really hate plot bunnies! I have no many of them and then start a new story and then lose to mojo for others. I like the premise of this story honestly. It wont be a lovey romance story, well at least not for a while, if at all. Severus will have a lot of issues and flaws he needs to work on in this story before he will accept Hermione.**

 **-Aliasmel11**


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione was honestly angry over the whole thing. The fact that Severus, a man who was so complex yet so selfless had been cast aside and forgotten about didn't bode well with her.

She would have at least expected Draco or Narcissa Malfoy to stop by and visit him, but they never did. Of all the people in the whole world, she at least thought his supposed friends would have given him a few hours of their time; how wrong she was. His own damn God Son couldn't even take a few minutes of his day to sit by his bedside and talk to him.

Of course, Lucius couldn't visit him even if he wanted to, not that he would because he was much too self-absorbed to care about anyone else within his world. But now Lucius lay in wait for the trial date to come by, and she hoped deep down that he was going to get the kiss. But of course he was, his list of charges had been longer than her own arm.

She was equally unhappy that Harry had not come to visit him, sure, the two of them perhaps had not seen eye to eye and Snape had acted like he hated Harry, but that was so far from the truth. She couldn't exactly bring the subject up with Harry because then would come a thousand questions, the what, the who the how and the why and then he would know that she had been going to see him. Not that she was ashamed she had been going to see him, she just didn't want to play answer a million questions and others may think she had some motive for doing so.

The truth was, Hermione just wanted to help people, people hurt directly or indirectly by the war, people who had lost loved ones and the ones that now lay in hospital beds without a cure. She hated knowing those people lay in wait without anyone or anything to help them because of the simple fact, there was no magic on earth that could or would help; that is what didn't sit right with her.

She had read books, researched the best she knew how locally and abroad, and all avenues were exhausted, and she was no closer to finding a cure or helping him. Deep down inside of her, she knew that he probably would ever wake up, and if he did, he would probably never be the same person he was. But never the less, she wanted to help, she needed to help. She wasn't one to sit idly by in the world when something needed doing.

Hermione spent the next few hours alone with him, she had shed many a tear and told him many a secret in her time here, she felt comfortable about him in a silly way. She knew he probably couldn't hear her, but it gave her the satisfaction that she had opened up to someone. She cried about Ron, she laughed about Harry, she told him how angry she was with herself for not being able to help him. She had spilled many tears over his robes, her head buried into the black wool as if it were comforting her and keeping her safe. It was stupid really, she had never been very attached to him when he was conscious, in fact, she used to give him a wide berth, she wouldn't say she feared him, but she respected him and knew how to not grind on his nerves. And now she felt as if she were his friend in a stupid way.

She had always seen Severus as the dour old Potions Master who took no shit from anyone. Abrasive and uncaring. She was sure he made it his mission to be as evil and uncaring as humanly possible.

He was a hard taskmaster, but she was thankful for that, she liked to be pushed and tested and test her he did. Her opinion of him changed the day she had seen the memories that he had shared with Harry. He was mistaken and misunderstood and for one fleeting moment, she realised why he was the way he was.

She had left the pensive, shaking, heartbreaking for the lost and lonely man who had no one left in his life that he had cared for or cared for him. And it was that day she knew she had to make a difference, even if that meant sitting here with him and spending a few hours a week with him. A small gesture on her behalf but perhaps it could have meant the world to him.

She had often wondered what would become of him should he wake up. Would he be the same person he was and stand up tall and mighty and walk from the hospital one large step at a time, or would he be a shell of his former self, withdraw and angry at the world, stuck in the hospital bed unable to do anything for himself?

Her hand held hard onto his, her warm flesh mingling with his cold flesh, a thumb traced lazy circles on the back of his hand. She couldn't exactly remember the time she had started holding his hand, but she remembered how right it felt. He had never responded, not even a sharp inhale of breath had even been passed that perhaps would have told Hermione that he was still there on some level.

So today when his hand twitched beneath hers even harder than the first time, she jumped slightly, heart pumping in her chest. His own thumb began to trace small circles on the back of her hand, in the same manner, she had afforded him. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard. Surely this had to be a dream?

Moments later his strong grip seized her around the wrist, grip tightening hard it was surely going to cut off the circulation.

A deep jagged inhaled breath and the fluttering of lids told Hermione he was a lot more awake than she had realised.

"Lily?" His voice a ghostly whisper as he sat bolt-upright in the bed, staring right through Hermione as if she weren't sitting there.

"Take Harry and run Lily," He screamed as loud as he could, fear fluttering behind Hermione's eyes as his grip tightened substantially more on her wrist.

"Lily, go," he bellowed at the top of his lungs before crashing back onto the bed, eyes closed and the grip loosened on her wrist.

She had to tell someone, the doctors, his nurses, she was sure no one would believe her, hell, she wasn't even sure if she believed what happened herself.

 **A/N: A quick update for you all. I am humbled by all the likes and reviews I got for the first chapter. Thank you all! This is the last chapter I will ever write this year… But the good news is, the new year (In Australia) is only 55 minutes away**. **Just a filler chapter, hoping to get to the good stuff soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

The Healer had sent Hermione on her merry way home that day after checking Severus over. There was nary an indication to show that he had even momentarily gained consciousness and even if he did, he would not be strong enough to grasp her wrist so tightly that it hurt her. When someone didn't use their body for over a year, strength was questionable at best.

She had been angry, she wanted to grab the Healer by his robes and shake him until he listened to her, she was no fool and she knew what she had been witness too, none the less, she left to the quiet retreat of her home amongst the rolling hills, her quaint cottage perched atop the highest hill with views of nothing but the landscape. She purchased the small cottage with acres upon acres of land with the idea that perhaps one day, she would open a magical animal sanctuary, but right now, she had bigger issues to attend to.

She liked to live a simple life, alone. She surrounded herself with her books and her thirst to learn more than she already knew and usually distanced herself from the company of others. Sure, she still loved her friends dearly, but they didn't understand her anymore and to tell the truth, she really didn't understand them either.

They all had very differing views on the war and the aftermath, Harry was happy to be the hero, the poster boy for saving the wizarding world as they knew it. He didn't mind taking the accolades that come with it all, he didn't mind the fame the role afforded him. Ron was much the same, although not as converted as Harry, and Hermione could at times feel a faint animosity between the two of them.

Hermione, on the other hand, thought daily about the repercussions of the war and always beat herself up over it. More often than not, the what, why and who crossed her mind and thoughts of a better way it could have been done to shed less blood. Maybe their friends would still be alive had things gone differently. It was stupid of course to beat herself up over something she couldn't go back in time and change but it still ate at her daily.

She wasn't for the fanfare and accolades, she was all for making a difference and changing the world one small deed at a time and that generally did bode well with many people she met. They just thought she should mind her own business and go about with her days instead of interfering with others lives in a bid to better them.

She sighed angrily as she stomped through the door of her cottage and Crookshanks made quick work to get out of the way or her wrath as she kicked her shoes off with such force they went flying across the room and hit the wall with a resounding thud.

She still couldn't believe that the Healer hadn't listened to a single word she said and that had soured her mood more than it probably should have. She wasn't obtuse, she knew what she had borne witness to and she didn't like to be made out like she was crazy.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Obsidian eyes fluttered open with force, rasping breath inhaled loudly. A shaky hand carded through his hair, eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room he was in. Where was he?

The foreign sounds hitting his ears made him wince, why was it so loud in here and where was she? The softly spoken girl who sat with him, her warm skin so welcoming on his own, like the sun kissing his skin on a cold, blustery winters day that warmed him to the cockles of his heart.

Lily, it was Lily, it had to be. He knew the innocence of her voice and the velvet touch of her skin. She always talked about Harry and his best friend, Ron. Although the last time he had seen Harry he was nothing but an infant, a newborn he managed to catch a glimpse of. Where was James? She never mentioned him. Unless he… eye widened in a mix of horror and glee. Maybe James was dead.

A shaky hand snaked its way to his neck, something constricting his breathing and motion substantially his fingertips featherlight traced the fabric covering his neck tightly.

He felt so tired and so very weak, shaky and light headed. He had never felt this helpless in a very long time. Was he injured? Had he felt the wrath of the Dark Lord after indirectly alerting Lily to getting away with Harry? He couldn't remember her getting away but he assumed she had, Afterall, she had been there talking to him and holding his hand like an old friend and telling him her worries and desires in life.

Sliding his legs over the side of the bed he tried to stand with every fibre of his being, he willed himself, he told himself he could do this but the couldn't. He hit the floor and landed with a thud in an undignified heap on the floor, legs curled beneath him, back slumped against the hard metal frame of the bed.

He was angry with himself, he just wanted to get up and leave. Where was his wand? He felt around in his robes frantically but there was nothing but a few empty vials in his pockets. Hands pressed helplessly to his face as he held back an angry, strangled sob. His own face piqued his interested as he patted his hands over his beard. How long had they been holding him captive here? Who was keeping him here against his will, and why couldn't he move? He had question after question and not a single person here to help or answer them.

He tried to stand again but nothing happened, his arms taking his entire weight shaking wearily beneath his bony frame, having lost a decent amount of weight in the past year. Growling angrily, he tried once again only for his arms to give out once more. He had never felt this helpless in his life.

"Help," He tried to bellow but it just came out in a weak, barely audible whisper. "Lily," He sobbed, holding his head in his hands again, unsure what exactly to do. Weak and unable to move his lower body he was at the mercy of whoever came to his rescue, if anyone did it all and who knew when that would be.

And then just as if his call had been answered the door to the room he was in opened, a flood of light bursting in and assaulting his retinas. Wincing slightly as he looked up the young girl that walked into the room gave a shriek of what seemed like utter surprise mingling with terror, she looked as if she has seen Voldemort himself standing before her as she took a few quick steps back out of the room and screamed for others to come.

Before he knew it, there were a plethora of people buzzing around the room, helping him gently back into the bed.

"Where is she? He croaked out, the only questioned he wanted to really know the answer to.

"Who?" The young nurse gently propped a second pillow under his head while simultaneously tugging the bandage around his neck just a little looser.

"Lily, Lily Potter. She came, she sat and she talked."

The nurse threw him a small, sad smile, "That wasn't Lily Potter, Severus. That was Hermione Granger."

He blinked rapidly as if not quite understanding what the girl had said. "Hermione who? He managed to choke out sadly. He didn't even know a Hermione Granger and now, he was even more confused than when he first woke up.

"So where is Lily?" Softly spoken words passed dry, chapped thin lips, pain etched into the harsh lines of his face as he blinked rapidly at the nurse now pulling the bandage from his neck as the Healers all gathered around him in the utmost awe.

The nurse laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Lily Potter is… Lily is, maybe she will be around to see you later." She figured it would be better the lie to the confused man who clearly had no grip on reality than to subject him to the heartache right now.

 **A/N: Yes, I realise I spelled Lily as Lilly in the previous chapter. I only realised that after I posted the chapter and then headed to bed. I will try to change it in the next day or two.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione had been sitting at home later that night all alone, book clutched tightly in her hand, legs tucked beneath her. Crookshanks, her only real companion of late purring in his slumber beside her when an owl came tapping at the window with urgency. She jumped so high the book she was reading fell to the floor with a resonating thud and Crookshanks hissed, ran up the length of her back, every step punctuated with a kiss of his claws to her soft, pliable flesh as he soared from her shoulder and ran off to hide.

Sighing haughtily, she picked the book up and shut it with a thud. The black leather book had the words "The Placebo Effect" stamped in gold across the front. Hermione had taken a liking to the book when she had come across it when trying to find something-anything that would help Severus.

The whole premise of the book was based on the fact that the human body had the ability to, in essence, heal itself should the person needing the healing was swayed into thinking they were being helped in ways or means of medication or medical intervention. And she figured, if the average human body could heal itself remarkably, then surely a magical entity could heal themselves ten-fold and she wanted to test this theory one day if she ever got the chance.

She took three large steps before pulling open the window, the crisp night air filling her lungs and hitting her in the face, winter was on the way, the perfect time, in her opinion. The time of snuggling under blankets with a good book and a warm cup of tea to warm the soul.

The large, unassuming black barn owl swooped in, dropped the letter unceremoniously at her feet before turning and flying away. Hermione generally kept to herself and she wasn't expecting a letter, anyone who knew her knew that her Floo was always open or knew where she lived should they need her. So, to get a letter had her a little on edge.

Gently clasping the smooth, white envelope in her long, pale fingers she opened it with urgency, throwing the envelope onto the ground without a second that she unfolded the letter and began to peruse it.

It was like time had stopped, the colour drained from her face, mouth became dry and legs turned to jelly before a small smile spread across her lips. She knew it! She knew she was right and she was glad she insisted that Severus's care continue even though it was thought hopeless.

She had to go see him, now. But what if he saw her and sent her away? What is he still had all of the hatred towards her in his heart? What if he knew it was her telling him all of her deepest, darkest secrets and desires? She paled and took in a deep breath, maybe this wasn't the best idea after all.

Tossing her mane of wild auburn locks defiantly over her shoulder she searched for some decent clothes before Flooing straight into the ward in which Severus was being held at St Mungo's. Stepping out she brushed herself off. The ward was quiet, being nighttime, she assumed most visitors had gone home for the night. It was actually eerily quiet she thought as she passed the nurses station that was generally a hive of activity, now an almost barren and desolate space, not a single person sat there.

She followed the usual route to his room, she could have done this with her eyes closed if she had to, after all, she had trodden this path many a time.

She was stopped at the door, she recognized a healer she had seen once before and a nurse that she was all too familiar with.

The raven-haired older nurse came bustling over to her and Hermione didn't know whether to laugh, smile or reel at the look on her face.

"He's awake," the older woman said almost solemnly like it was a bad thing.

Hermione's heart began to beat like a jackhammer in her chest, she knew there was going to be some terrible news on this front.

"Just give me the bad news," Hermione managed to spit out a little too forcefully with venom lingering within her tone.

"He's awake but he has no idea who you are, he still thinks Lily Potter is alive, his memory, from what we can tell has reverted back to around eighteen years ago when Harry Potter was just a baby at a guess, we can't pinpoint it to an exact moment and he thinks that you have been Lily coming to visit him," the witch finished matter of factly, folding her arms over her chest and stepping back.

"Good luck, you will need it," The Healer managed to choke out, he knew that this was going to be a long, tough road and personally, he thought that perhaps Severus Snape, even though he had awoken from his coma might just not cope with the evil magic pulsating through his body like an insidious disease and it wouldn't be long before he was begging to be taken from this world.

Hermione nodded curtly and gently pushed pass the two of them. She knew exactly what they were thinking, the stupid girl thinks she is high and mighty because she was right, because she saw further ahead than they could and she had faith that he would come out of the coma. But what Hermione didn't bargain on was the memory loss. How would anyone break the news to him so he had to relive terrible heart-wrenching memories all over again, like rubbing salt into the wounds?

She gently opened the door and walked in, he was sitting up and staring straight ahead almost as if he were looking at something Hermione couldn't see.

"Severus?" She asked gently, watching intently as his head snapped towards her vigour. His eyes softened for a moment as he looked her over, trying to work out who she was, or how he knew her.

"I'm Hermione," she almost whispered as she sat in the chair beside him. She noticed his neck, while still bandaged heavily, the padding thinner and less restrictive. The wound refused to heal, they had tried everything to heal it but the magic that penetrated his neck left the wounds still bloody and open with no sign of healing.

"Hermione?" He questioned with a faraway look on his face as the silence shrouded them in a heavy cloud of awkwardness.

"One of Lily's friends?" He cocked his head to the side with deep regard taking in her mass of curls and lithe frame. The way the jumper she had thrown on was baggy and covering most of her body, her skin soft and white, her features soft and almost beautiful.

"No." She shook her head rapidly, her mass of curls flying around effortlessly.

"A friend of Harry Potter. A student of yours I guess." She didn't want to confuse him too much right now so wanted to keep it short.

He looked at her again, as if trying to think back to any of his classes that she may have been in, but once again, he drew a blank. "Are you a Slytherin? You look like you are a Slytherin." He folded his arms over his chest, he wished he knew who this girl was, because the way she was talking it was almost like she really knew him.

"Gryffindor," She offered.

Silence again as his pale, thinner than average bony fingers poked gently at his neck bandage.

"Where is Lily Potter?"

"Lily is..." She sighed looking around the room as if hoping something would swallow her up right now.

"Lily might be along soon," She managed to cough out softly. A total white-face lie.

"Why am I here? In St. Mungo's?" His voice a ghostly whisper as he was still staring at her, trying to place where she may have popped up in his life.

"You have some memory loss, Severus. You are missing large chunks of your life... Voldemort's snake attacked you and left you for dead."

"But his snake will only attack on his command," His tone confused as he searched her eyes for any answers before she pulled away.

"Exactly," She managed to choke out.

"Where is he now. The Dark Lord?"

"Dead," Hermione whispered, staring at the stark, white hospital wall, hoping a giant hole would open up and swallow her. "Harry Potter Killed him," She added.

"Just how much of my memory am I missing?"

"About eighteen years."

She watched as his face fell harshly, she could pinpoint the exact moment just by the expression on his sunken, sallow face that his whole world as he knew it had just came crumbling down.

"What did you say your name was again?" His voice a shaky whisper as he turned to look at the bushy-haired young woman again.

"I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger." She got to her feet, tossing her wild mane over her shoulder.

"I'll leave you for now. I'll come back tomorrow." She walked quietly out of the room, leaving him to ponder over the small bits of information she had fed him.

He watched as she left. He could tell by her walk that she lacked confidence and liked to keep to herself. But why was her name so familiar to him? Why did that name want to bring out such hatred to the surface?

He rolled over and closed his eyes, he was much too tired and confused to keep on pondering thoughts tonight.

 **A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and faves! This story is actually surpassing what I had even thought. When I first wrote the very first chapter, I honestly didn't think anyone would read it... How you all proved me wrong!**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione didn't know how to feel later that night as she was tucked up under the covers. Her mind kept skipping to Severus Snape and the fact a good portion of his life had been totally wiped from his memory. He had no idea of the terrible atrocities he had inflicted or the pain and suffering he had thrust up many a person but on the same hand, he didn't know he was the total anti-hero they needed and didn't suspect. A tangled web of lies and deceit he wove so delicately and so perfectly. The perfect labyrinth of lies that even the most nefarious over-lord had no idea he was being played. A man of such diversity and intelligence deserved more than the path his life had taken.

He had no idea that Lily Potter was dead, long, long ago and he had no idea that Harry Potter had saved the Wizarding world. He was totally in the dark to the fact on who she was and for some reason, that stung just a little. All the time she had spent with him and she wasn't at the forefront of his mind annoyed her for some stupid reason. She was literally the only person who ever visited him, and he didn't have the decency to remember her?

He had no idea Dumbledore had died. There were so many things he had no idea about and she had no idea how or if she should tell him.

That led her to her next thought when he was ready to leave the hospital, where would he go? He had no one. She guessed as much that she would bring him here, she always had that at the back of her mind since the entire thing unravelled. She somehow felt solely responsible for him because she was the one that pushed and pushed for him to be saved, she was the one that scoured books and searched high and low for information- and failed. She felt solely responsible for this right now and the burden should be hers to carry.

She lay her weary head down to sleep but couldn't help tossing and turning. How could she tell the man that the love of his life was dead all over again? How could she piece together his life for him bit by bit and have him live through many agonising memories all over again? Why was any of this up to her? The man wasn't the villain they had all thought and yet not one person could stop and give him the time of day the entire time he lay cold and alone in that hospital.

Tears pricked hotly at her eyes and a huge lump formed in her throat. She couldn't believe that someone in life could have absolutely no one and that tore at her heart. That was the problem with Hermione, she cared too much, too sensitive, too caring, too much the vigilante, wanting to be the hero of the day, always beating herself up when she failed, she was a lot of things, some she hated about herself and others she loved.

She swiped fiercely at her cheeks at the flow of tears fell freely and without pause. Some days she loved living alone here in the country and other times she wished she lived somewhere less secluded so she could walk the streets when her mind wouldn't turn off. She didn't much feel like walking the pastures in the dark of the midnight sky.

o-o-o-o-o

Severus felt sick, sore and confused. He couldn't make either end of what was happening, he knew the basics, but he felt as if people were hiding things from him, omitting minor details that would otherwise help the puzzle easily fall into place. He knew he was missing a good portion of his life and he knew that Voldemort was no more, which, he had to admit invoked a tiny shred of happiness within him.

The pain gnawed at his neck, taking his hand he pressed it gently to the binding around his neck. It was sticky and wet to the touch, pulling his hand away red tainted blood marred his white flesh.  
"It won't heal," a Medi-witch that had snuck into his room to check on him stated.

His head snapped up as he watched her with interest as she went about checking his vital signs for a moment before her shorty, stubby fingers began to unravel the bandage he was only moments ago touching.

"It's dark magic," she began, he eyed her sideways listening intently. "Nothing we have seen before. We have exhausted all avenues. Bless Hermione Granger though she won't give up on you, she's been to the ends of the earth searching for a cure to help you." She began bathing the seeping, bloody would gently, causing him to wince.

"Why does her name seem so familiar to me?" He gently asked, closing his eyes as pain radiated through his neck and exploded within his body like a million tiny needles pricking at his psyche.

"She's from your past, there will be a lot of familiar names pop up every now and then that you will feel drawn to, but you won't remember who they are. She is Harry Potters best friend and she's spent the last year with you in here when you had no one else."

He stiffened at this statement, was she the girl that had divulged all of her worldly secrets to him and soaked his robes with her tears? Sniffling and clamping her arms tightly to him and crying out all her sadness while wishing he would wake up? Telling him of her worries and her hopes for the world, the ups and the downs in her life all the while he could just lay there unmoving, unwavering in a coma.

"There are going to be many a thing that you will find out over the coming weeks that will shock you and most of them you probably won't want to believe." She gave the wound one last gentle swipe as he mulled over her words and tried with all his might to place Hermione Granger at some point in his life, but it was futile.

"Me and the Granger girl…"

"Hermione?" The woman asked in an upward inflection, gentle pressing some padding to his open wound, it generally soaked up the blood for a few hours before seeping once more.

"Yes, Hermione and I," he corrected himself before continuing, "is there any… Anything there that I might be forgetting about? Any history, more than friendship?"

The short, frumpy but friendly woman stopped what she was doing for a moment and studied him in silence. "No, not to my knowledge. She was your student and student only as far as I am aware unless there was some requited love bubbling beneath the surface that nobody knew about." She began to wind the bandage around the wound slowly.

"So there was no romantic entanglement between her and me?"

"Nope. I don't think you were romantically involved with anyone, at least I haven't heard." She shrugged gently.

"And Lily Potter? How is she fairing?" He pushed himself further up in the bed, lying down for so long had caused his back to ache.

He thought it was peculiar how the woman stiffened at his question, her hands hovering for a moment, unmoving. She knew she couldn't drop the truth on him like a tonne of bricks, not so soon anyway and she didn't really feel it was her place to do so, maybe that was best left for Hermione Granger.

"I suspect she will be around any time." She finished the bandage off in silence before patting him on the shoulder in a comforting manner.

"The physiotherapists will be around soon, they want to start strengthening your muscles and getting you moving."

He could only nod curtly and watch as she left the room, he couldn't help but feel something was being hidden from him and it was something of great magnitude. He also couldn't help but feel some sadness and resentment that people weren't flocking into the hospital to visit him. But then again, he wasn't the most pleasant person he knew, and he really didn't blame them.

He managed to run a shaky hand through his long, black hair, longer than he remembered it before this happened along with the hair now gracing his face and as soon as he could tend to the hair currently sprouting from his face, the better.

He was tired, but he didn't want to sleep, he had been asleep for a whole year and he would be damned if he would unnecessarily sleep again any time soon. He was going to go spare if he had to stare at these four walls any longer, he didn't even have a window in which to watch the days go by, what he would give for a cozy chair next to a window overlooking a large field, that is all he wanted right now, to feel free and at ease.

His mind skipped back to Hogwarts and he wondered who was holding his post now, he wondered if it still looked the same as he remembered. He inhaled sharply as he remembered feeling so at home within the stone walls of the castle and nostalgia set in for the moment. So many memory's in the castle, some he wished he couldn't remember and others he wanted to hold onto for an eternity longer.

He sighed haughtily, what he would give to be back there, teaching, back to normalcy, back to his home. Instead, he was here, his only apparent friend a girl who he didn't even remember yet he felt as if he knew her so well. Not having his memory was going to truly drive him crazy and he wondered just for a moment if perhaps he could dive head-first into her memories in a pensive and relive some of what she had seen, some of what he had been through. Perhaps, he would ask, the worst she could do was say no.

 **A/N: Just a little filler chapter, I hope you enjoy it and I hope to be on a more regular update schedule soon!**

 **-Aliasmel1  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione was up with the sparrows the next morning, dressed and out of the door as the sun rose high over the emerald hills that surrounded her home for as far as she could see. She loved the solace and solidarity that living here afforded her. It was peaceful and away from people. Not that she hated people per se, she just didn't like dealing with them of late.

Her mind focused on Severus from the moment her eyes blinked open that morning, she would go see him again and see how he was fairing. She knew this would be a long and drawn out process, but she was committed to the cause and happy to be in for the long haul.

She took in a deep breath, the fresh air filling her lungs and clearing her mind somewhat as she thought back to Severus. She was sure he would love to be out here and away from that hospital, not there was anything wrong with it, but being trapped in there was enough to send anyone irate.

Apparating from the front of her house she landed easily at the doors of St Mungo's. Smoothing her hands over her shirt to put it back into place she walked silently through the halls. The moment she stepped into this place it made her feel ill. The severity of the illnesses and death seen in these walls pressed hard on her psyche and made her feel uneasy as she trotted the well-known path to his room.

The hospital was eerily quiet at this time and she wondered why she actually came so early, but she couldn't help it, she needed to see him again, to talk to him. If he wasn't awake, well, she would just hang around until he was.

She found herself at the door to his room and stopping abruptly when she heard talking just on the other side, the deep baritone voice of Snape she knew, but the other profound voices of men were hard for her to place right at this moment. She knew all his doctors and the men talking were not them. Breath hitched in her throat she daren't move or breath.

"Come in, Miss Granger," a stern voice called from the door which she pushed open and walked in. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the minister for magic was talking to a very alert Severus Snape who was sitting up in the bed, legs dangling gently over the side, toe tips lazily grazing the cold, sterile floor beneath them.

"Minister." Hermione nodded curtly, acknowledging the man of power before her and then nodded curtly to the short, portly man beside him who she recognised as Kingsley's assistant.

Severus's eyes raked the length of the girl, his mind stuck racing as he tried to place her in his life. Bushy hair and a small lithe frame mixed in with a beaming kindness that seemed to fill the room when she entered had him wracking his brain. There was no such person he knew, or at least that he could remember.

"We have a problem, Miss Granger," Kingsley began gravely, and Hermione could tell by the tone in his voice that the magnitude of the subject was going to be heavy.

"And the problem is?" She snapped hard. She knew exactly what the problem was going to be, and she was not going to allow it. She would argue until she was blue in the face.

"Severus Snape," Kingsley became, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to form the right words in his head. He knew that deep down this was immorally wrong and not needed but he had to do it.

"Severus is wanted in Azkaban for murder, Miss Granger." He said heavily, voice shaking.

"Bull! Hermione screeched loudly causing the three men in the room to jump slightly. "You know very well Kingsley that this man is a hero! He was acquitted of those murders and given hero status!"

"That is true, Hermione." All formalities now dropped. "However, that was when he was perceived as a dying man, never to recover. Now he has awoken people's tunes have changed and they are out for blood and justice." He sniffed. Turning his head to the left to look away from them all and took an interest in a painting of a bowl of fruit just across the room.

Well. That didn't take long at all for the foul journalists to crawl out from their cesspools and poke their noses where it very well wasn't wanted.

"So when a person is dying all the bleeding hearts come out, but once someone recovers all of the sympathies are revoked?" She sighed deeply, sitting on the bed next to Severus her leg brushing casually against his.

Severus continued to watch her. Why would a young, pretty woman be here fighting for him and his rights? This made no sense to him at all. Perhaps the nurse had got it wrong and there had to be some stronger relationship she shared with Severus for her to be fighting for him right now. Nobody would do this out of the kindness of their own heart. Not for someone as vile and wretched as he.

"He doesn't even know what he has done!" She admonished holding her head in her hands. She damn well didn't fight this long for him to be hauled off to Azkaban.

"Dumbledore was well liked and respected. People are out for justice."

"Dumbledore ordered his own damn death Kingsley; you and I know that. Get Harry Potter in he will testify to that. Your argument is weak, and I will not stand for this. I will fight tooth and nail until my last god damned breath," she snapped hard. Chest rising and falling with deep breaths and a deep rage that wanted her to lash out at Kingsley and Crucio him. Luckily for her, she could keep those feelings locked up tight.

"There were other deaths, Hermione. Families want justice."

"Those people can get fucked." She screamed, shaking. She rarely swore but, in some instances, it was called for.

Severus watched the backwards and forward intently. One man wanting to haul him off to Azkaban and one woman who seemed the passionate vigilante.

"You can't save everyone, Hermione." Kingsley's stern words cut her to the core.

"I can bloody well try." She curled her top lip at the man in a threatening manner. "Isn't a life of condemnation he had to endure for most of his natural life enough? Isn't the fact he was forced to do unspeakable things while under the heavy hand of Voldemort enough to pay for his atrocities? This is wrong on so many levels. The man has barely been awake, and you are here to haul him off already. For god sake, he doesn't know what he has done. He doesn't even know Lily Potter is dead," She growled, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat.

It was at that moment that the words fell from her lips she knew she had made a fatal mistake. Well. Shit. The room fell silent and she side-eyed him. A pin dropping could have been heard the silence was so thick in the air.

"Lily… Lily is dead?" Severus's ghostly whisper cut heavily through the silence.

Hermione gnawed hard at her bottom lip, rolling it between her teeth as she tried to work out what the right thing to do here was. Well, she couldn't exactly go back on what she said. She turned her body just slightly, so she was looking at him. "I'm sorry, Severus. Yes. Lily died a long, long time ago. She died protecting Harry. Voldemort gave her the option to step aside but as you can imagine, a mother in that situation wouldn't do such a thing."

He was whiter than normal, onyx eyes held no emotion, face stoic. "I… Can you show me… Tell me…? Later. After," His voice so hollow it was almost like he was on auto-pilot.

Gently she rested her hand on his. His flesh pale in comparison to her creamy skin. His hand ice cold, hers was so warm. It had been years since a woman had held his hand so tenderly. Years since a woman had touched him that hadn't been repulsed by him.

Kingsley held his hands up defensively, the anger in the room was palpable and he feared just a little for his life. Hell hath no fury like Hermione Granger scorned.

"What about a trial?!" Hermione exclaimed as she turned back to Kingsley. "You can't just haul him off to Azkaban without a fair trial."

Kingsley pinched the bridge of his nose once more. She was much too smart for her own good.

"Ok. Look. If you want to take on full responsibility and care for him under a contract to the ministry stating all your obligations, then feel free. Until such time he is well enough for a trial. But unless you can keep tabs on him from now till far in the unforeseeable future, he will be hauled off and left to live a life of misery. If you sign a contract, you agree to take the responsibilities and the falls for every wrongdoing he does from here on in, Hermione. Do you really want that for a man with very few redeeming qualities? Do you really want to take that amount of responsibility on? I know you have spent many hours here with him, I know you have taken it upon yourself to find a cure, but do you really want to do more for a man that regarded you as little more than an inconvenient pest in his life? A man who now doesn't even know who you are?"

"How did you know…" She trailed off; brow quirked high in question.

"I'm the minister, Hermione. I know everything on the going on's in Britain and abroad. Now, will you be willing to take on the responsibility until such time comes when he may be called before the Wizengamot for a trial? Survivors guilt is a funny thing, Hermione. But I feel you have done more than enough in this situation. Walk away and live your life. You are young, travel, study. You don't always have to be the one to sweep in and save the day."

His words weighed heavily on her, but she wasn't one to give up easily. Stubborn was a word that came to mind when people had to describe her.

"I will be around later, Minister." She stood up, straightening her clothes as she did so. Holding the gaze of the older man in an almost threatening manner. "I will be around to sign the papers. I will be wholly responsible for him from here on in. After all, it seems everyone else abandoned him in his time of need. Someone has to go in and stand up for those without a voice." Jutting her chin out defiantly she could only watch as Kingsley gave her a sharp nod and left the room.

She sighed audibly, dropping the whole façade she had just put on and sat in a chair next to the hospital bed.

"Who are you?" He asked with deep regard.

"I'm Hermione Granger… you know that."

"I meant it in a totally different way. Who are you in my life? Why did you just fully defend me when I cannot even remember you? And from what I can deduce from the conversation I wasn't very kind to you. Who did I murder? And why would you defend me?" His expression screwed up into utter confusion.

"I'm just someone who stands up where others lack a voice. I hate seeing people walked all over. You were horrible to me. You called me a buck-toothed know-it-all on a few occasions and that hurt me but in comparison to what has befallen you, it's quite minute. Harry Potters best friend and confidant, we did everything together, along with Ronald Weasley."

"Weasley. I know the Weasleys," He chimed in. "But I don't know Ron. Or at least I can't remember."

"You do know him. Harry, Ron and I. We were known as the golden trio. You hated us. We hated you. Very much the vigilantes of Hogwarts we were always getting into trouble." She smiled. "In trouble always to save someone or fix a situation. In the end, we found them all. The Horcruxes that is and destroyed them. Harry Ended up being one himself… The night Voldemort killed Harry- and failed, a piece of Voldemort's soul latched onto Harry. Harry was saved by his mother's love, the love she showed by not moving aside for Voldemort. She was fearless in the face of danger." Hermione smiled a little as many memories came flooding back as she talked. "Harry and Ron were great friends… Are great friends."

"Voldemort… He… He used the killing curse on Lily?"

"Yes. He did." She sniffed trying to keep her emotions in check.

The two sat in silence after that. She would glance at him every now and then only to see him staring off into space, in his own world. Finally, she decided to break the silence.

"Severus." Her voice a gentle whisper to which his head snapped to her. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way. It wasn't my intention for you to go through that so soon. I can go home and get a pensieve and show you if you like. If you want to see it, I mean…" She trailed off.

"I don't think I want to see that now that I know how she went. I'd ask you to show me happier memories, but it doesn't seem like there would be many with me in them. I must have been a terrible wretch."

She chose not to answer. Instead, she sat in silence again waiting for him to ask any questions rather than force facts upon him.

"Hermione?" He asked gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Mmm?" She hummed.

"Kingsley said something about Dumbledore's death… is he… did I?"

She sighed heavily. There was the question she was dreading. "He is and you did. But there are vast circumstances that place you not at fault."

"How can I not be at fault?" Head tilted to the side in question and utter confusion.

"Dumbledore requested it. Draco was tasked with Killing Dumbledore but Narcissa knew that he probably couldn't do it so entered an unbreakable vow with you. Should Draco fail, you would step into his place and kill Dumbledore. As it would have it, Draco wasn't exactly the fearless murderer he thought he was and thus you killed Dumbledore totally at his behest, of course. He was dying anyway."

"Wait. Who's Draco?"

She sighed again. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Draco is Lucius and Narcissa Malfoys only child and son."

"Oh. So, Draco, son of Lucius, fearless murderer, didn't inherit his father insatiable blood lust and I had to step in and pick up the pieces?"

"Exactly."

"And where is Lucius now?"

"Azkaban. Awaiting his trial. He might get off if Narcissa lines a few more palms or warms a few more beds. Or he might get the kiss. Time will tell," She said nonchalantly.

"An-" He was cut off. A healer entering the room.

"Just here for your morning physiotherapy, Severus." The young blonde chirped a little too happily.

She took this as a cue to leave. "I'll be back later, Severus. With a pensieve," She called over her shoulder as she left the room.

The whole walk back to the apparition point she couldn't help but think how at ease she felt with him right now. All the mean words that cut her to the core he had spoken to her over the years paled considerably. She also couldn't believe she had vouched to basically be his keeper. What was she doing? She thought to herself. Probably condemning herself to a huge mistake and a life of misery but only time would tell.

 **A/N: Thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter! I hope you all like it. I have had quite a few new subscribers to this story in the past week or so. I hope you have enjoyed the story thus far. Thank you to all who review! It really does make me motivated to sit down and write more.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	7. Chapter 7

"Really?" Hermione slammed her palms flat on Kingsley's desk. She apparated straight to the ministry and she was seething. White hot anger type seething. The type of seething that made her want to tear his head from his neck with her bare hand and then throw it across the room like a bowling ball.

Kingsley looked up intently as the girl cast a shadow over him at his desk and all he could do was sigh. He knew she would come, and he knew he should probably expect a fight from the vivacious little cow.

"Yes, Hermione. Really," He said evenly, blinking up at her waiting for her to unleash another wave of anger upon him.

"You can't just acquit someone and then revoke that status. You and I both know that. Now either you tell me why you are doing this, or I drag your ass through the wringer. I will hire the best lawyer I can get, and I won't back down." She slammed her open palms again on his desk for added dramatic effect.

Kingsley leant back gently in his chair and crossed one leg over the other and watched her for a moment. Her face flushed with anger and eyes fiery enough to burn a hole through the wall behind him.

"Why do you care, Hermione? Riddle me this. Why do you truly care what befalls Severus Snape? Why do you want to be saddled and cinched with full responsibility to account for a man that hated you with a burning passion? The same man that picked on your physical faults and made you feel so insignificant and insecure. Tell me, Hermione, why do you feel as if you are responsible for him?" He tented his fingers and tapped the bridge of his nose as he waited. Watching her as she tried to form the answers in her head.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to think of the reasons. To find the answers.  
"Because," She finally began, "Everyone deserves redemption no matter how terrible they were in life. Everyone deserves a second chance, minister, and everyone deserves a little happiness at times."

"You don't always have to be the hero, Hermione. You don't have to carry the weight of the whole world on your shoulders. Not everyone can be redeemed and not everyone should be redeemed. You are playing with fire. Hot, scalding, melt your skin off type of fire. Severus Snape is an evil and complex man-" she cut him off abruptly.

"And right now he is sitting in the hospital almost unaware of who he is!" She spat viciously at him. "Right now, he is just a vulnerable man with the world against him and no idea why. Right now, he has nothing and nobody on his side," She cried, admonished.

"While your intentions are good, and your heart is in the right place I urge you to reconsider this. You stuck by him when everyone else gave up hope, he woke up, you were right, move on, Hermione. There is no need to linger any longer and condemn yourself to a life of misery. Can you imagine what he will be like when he finally remembers you and the deep-seated dislike he had for you that runs through his veins? You can let go of the survivor's guilt Hermione and stop trying to right what is wrong in the world." He finished with a haughty sigh, dropping his elbow to the desk and resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

"I will do no such thing. I will hold my ground; I will stand by Severus Snape and I will take full responsibility for him. Now you tell me why you want to drag him before the Wizengamot after his acquittal or I swear to Merlin I will not back down."

"Look. Morale is at an all-time low. Not a single man, woman or child holds faith in the ministry after the war. We need to gain confidence with the citizens of our world. Severus was only exonerated under the pretences that he was going to die. So, he could die a free man, one without charges against him. That didn't happen and now people will talk. People argued enough when we freed him of all charges when he was on his death bed, can you imagine what they will be saying now! We can't just let this go."

"Yes, you can! He is and will be free. Don't make me fight for this, please. Just let me worry about him. Let me stand up for him, let me answer for him."

"Hermione. Severus is probably more dangerous now in his current frame of mind than he would be if he was still sound of mind. He's stuck in limbo somewhere between ruthless Death Eater and Dumbledore's Lackey. He's as the time in his life where he was just gaining his bearings in the world, finding his place and where he slotted in. A time when he was ten-foot-tall and bullet-proof and you want to try to help him with redemption, this will not end well. Why do you care so much, Hermione? Why Severus? Why not one of the other hundred cursed or poisoned beyond measure hulled up inside the hospital. What makes him so desirable, so needed?"

"Because I need him! I… mean I need to help him."

Kingsley quirked a brow high into his hairline. What did she mean that she needed him? A slip of the tongue or perhaps a deliberate faux pas on her behalf.

"What do you mean you need him?" One eye half closed as he tilted his head in question. He needed to hear this now. He needed to know why the amazing Hermione Granger needed a man twenty-one years her senior, unsound of mind who didn't even know who she was.

She looked nervous now like she had been caught on some large, elaborate secret that perhaps he shouldn't know about. Almost as if she were a deer in headlights about to be hit hard by an oncoming truck.

She inhaled a breath and quickly exhaled through her nose, playing with a stray curl that had assaulted her face she twirled it around and around her finger, almost as a safety blanket or a distraction to the question. "I haven't told anyone this, but I need him for research. I needed someone to study the placebo effect on wizards and how well it may or may not work. If it can work on a Muggle with outstanding results, then surely on a wizard it could unlock a whole new world of healing potential. And what better wizard than one who has no family or friends in the world. One that has nobody to account for them."

"Things go wrong all the time Hermione. This is very obtuse of you. One day he is a science experiment to you and the next you are confessing your unrequited love for him while pouring your heart out to him. This is immoral, this, surely this brings up a plethora of welfare issues if this were to get out to the public."

She snorted in response. Love? Severus Snape? Who was being obtuse now? Although she had to admit she kind of did care for him… Of course, after spending many hours with someone that was bound to happen.

"I can guarantee I will have no feelings towards Severus Snape. And if the public wants him to go before a trial, why would they have issues with his welfare and the fact he may or may not be an involuntary science experiment which may or may not go according to plan. I am the one taking all the risk, he is none the wiser and I make advancements in the medical field that has never been researched in our world before. Imagine if he could help heal others, help the hopeless cases, give people back their lives." She began pacing as she talked.

"Humans are funny creatures, Hermione. Always the vigilantes when it comes to welfare issues. He who cries the loudest gets noticed. There will always be liberationists out there for something just lying in wait to blow the proportions out of the water and become relevant and gain traction. And what if he finds out, flies off the handle and murders you?"

"And what if I cure him? What if I help him get his life back on track and he doesn't have to do a thing? Is it so wrong to care to help? There are too many what if's and upsides that they far trump anything bad that could happen."

"I think you are walking a thin line between what is right, and what is wrong, Hermione. At some stage, the lines between friendship and science experiment will blur and you will be questioning your motives and your research will be null and void." He stood and paced also in deep thought. This was immoral using a living man as a science experiment against his knowledge.

"I'm hardly going to jump into bed with him, Kingsley, if that is what you are implying. It is strictly professional." She stopped pacing and sat on the edge of his desk watching him intently as he paced.

"It's not you that I have to worry about, Hermione. It's him."

"You think he is going to jump into bed with me?" She asked with a surprised upward inflection.

"He's very, very persuasive Hermione. A few sweet nothings into your ear and you will be jumping in with him without a second thought. He is an incredible manipulator obviously or he wouldn't have survived as long as he did with Voldemort."  
He sat back in his chair and fished around in his draws for a piece of parchment he needed. He could tell it was a waste of his time arguing with Hermione, she was incredibly passionate in what she stood for and she rarely backed down.

"Just sign this. You take full responsibility of him and your secret dies with me, Hermione." He pushed the parchment and a quill across the table to her. She read it over half-heartedly and signed her name away. This was probably the best or stupidest thing she had ever done; she wasn't sure yet and only time would tell.

"Good luck, Hermione Granger. You are going to need it. Severus is a hard man at the best of times but to be using him without his knowledge… may his wrath be gentle upon you when he finds out." He held extended his hand out and Hermione took it, shaking it.

If magical intervention couldn't cure Severus Snape of the dark magic coursing mercilessly through his body then perhaps she could with nothing more than the man's own brilliant mind and a little bit of sheer luck.

Kingsley could only sit and shake his head. How evil of Hermione Granger. The entire time she sat with him, the whole time she screamed for his rights it was all a ploy, a motive... a front to make people think she was genuine when in actual fact perhaps she was playing the lot of them. Interesting. Maybe Hermione Granger wasn't as innocent and pure as people perceived.

 **A/N: Ok… The secret is out. Maybe will end up falling in love with him and jumping into bed with him when he whispers sweet nothings into her ear… only time will tell.**

 **Again I thank everyone for the reviews/ faves / follows. It really does make me smile and motivate me to write more.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	8. Chapter 8

She walked with haste through St Mungo's for the second time today. A small bag swinging wildly in her hand, containing a pensive she thought she should bring. Perhaps showing him snippets of his life, good and bad would be more beneficial than her sharing second, third or even fourth-hand information. Maybe, just maybe if she saw them for himself that he would be able to process things much easier then he currently was.

She wanted to help him, she really did, but at the same time, she wanted to help her research. She needed to do something with her life, and she wanted people to talk about her long after her dying day. What better way than to write your name into history with ground-breaking research. Sure, she kind of felt bad for the fact she was using Severus Snape for her own personal gain, but she guessed it was really doing him a favour… He had no known family and the public weren't exactly tripping over themselves to help, so in essence whilst he was her research and test subject, she was helping him get back on his feet in the interim. A story she continued to tell herself so the guild wouldn't gnaw mercilessly at her psyche.

Ok. Yes, she had kind of grown partial to him over the time she had spent with him and the tears she had spilled upon his robes may have been a giveaway, but she had to vent, she needed a proverbial shoulder to cry on and he was just… there. Unassuming and unable to voice his opinions. All she really needed was someone who could listen and not talk back, and he had perfectly filled the criteria. He didn't just fill it, he far exceeded it.

She would lie if she said she didn't have a small soft spot for the man. An unsung hero in the darkest of days. Selfless beyond measure and the anti-hero they all needed but didn't realise. So yes, she admired him, and she appreciated all he had done. But she also appreciated a great opportunity.

She pushed the door open to his room with vigour, still slightly annoyed with what unfolded with Kingsley and a little cranky at herself for revealing her plans. None the less, she trusted him not to go spreading the gossip around from the tallest towers and she knew her secret was safe with him for now. Although she guessed perhaps part of it wouldn't be a secret soon. She knew Severus would be well enough to leave the hospital eventually and then where would he go? Exactly. She would have to play the saint again and step up to the plate. She couldn't very well have him running around the streets or living alone. Not in his fragile condition…Not when she needed to study him further, use him to her advantage. No, she would need to take charge, keep a close eye on him and start the experiment. Forge a friendship with him and make him feel at ease, make him not suspect a thing. Easy? No. Was she willing to do it for her research? Yes.

"What are you doing?" She asked sternly as she saw Severus trying with all his might to pull himself to his feet. Rocking backwards and forwards as if trying to gain the momentum to hopefully spring up onto his feet. It was right then and there she was reminded just how fragile and vulnerable he was. Gone was the once stoic and incredibly strong man she had come to know and as much as she didn't want to admit it, admire. Gone were the days of the imposing man almost gliding down the halls effortlessly with his robes billowing out the back adding to the allure and mystery.

He stopped, empty black eyes laid on her. "I need to move. I need to get up and get some fresh air. It feels as if the walls are closing in on me." He wailed just a little.

"I don't think you are in any fit state to be walking around this room, let alone outside. You won't make it ten feet out that door." She pursed her lips and rested her hands on her hips.  
"Probably not but the mind is willing and able, just not the body."

"I don't think either the mind or the body is in any fit state honestly." She plopped on the bed next to him roughly, her leg brushing his own.

"Thank you." He gently laid a hand on her knee and squeezed it gently. "For everything this morning. I don't know who you are in my mind, but I appreciate you being there for me."

"It's fine." She blushed. "Now, memories. Let's look at some of mine. I actually have an assortment here from different people that I have managed to… obtain… over the years." She shifted nervously on the spot.

"You stole them, didn't you?" He questioned. "I may have lost my memories, but I haven't lost my ability to gauge human nature and responses.

"N…o, Never." She lied. Of course, she had stolen them. She had needed certain memories for different things over the years and she had a very persuasive manner when she needed to execute a plan.

She pulled the pensive from the bag quickly and rested it on her lap, a smaller version of the one Harry had told her about in Dumbledore's office, more portable and easier to carry around in her small bag.

"Now. What memories do you want to see first? Some of the classes you taught. Do you want to see who Harry Potter is today? Or we can- "

He cut her off abruptly, a hand on her arm. "Please, show me. Show me how she died." His voice pleading gently with her.

She closed her eyes and then opened them again, sucking in a breath. This was a terrible idea. "I don't think you need to see that, Severus…"

"Please!" His voice a stern, ghostly whisper to her ears.

"Ok. But I warned you." She fished around in her bag once more, vials of memories clinking together as she tossed each one aside, looking for the one she needed. She found it and uncorked it, tipping it into the small stone basin.

"Last chance to change your mind." Her eyes pleading with him to reconsider.

"I need to see this. I need to know."

"Ok." She shrugged.

The two plunged into the silver, shimmering liquid together. They were at Godric's Hollow, Hermione notice it from the time that she had gone there with Harry.

Lily and James come into frame and she visibly saw Severus scowl at James, and realised the hatred he felt for him ran deep.

Voldemort came, Severus's breath hitched in his throat as he watched what was unfolding with a hand clamped tightly over his mouth.

"Please, Lily, move. Step aside," Severus pleaded his voice pained as he watched what was unfolding before them. He knew that his pleading with her was futile, but he would try in vain.

A green light emitted from Voldemort's wand and Lily was dead before she even hit the ground.

He tried to run over to her, but it was hopeless, and for a fleeting moment he almost forgot he was in little more than a memory.

"Do you want to go?" She asked him gently.

He turned to her, tears running hotly down his cheeks as he had to relive the worst memory he had ever had to endure and only nodded.

She pulled them both back up from the silvery liquid and gave him a few minutes to process his thoughts. He sobbed, deep, heartbreaking sobs, the deep sobs of a broken man.

"Why her?" He asked, turning to Hermione. "What did she ever do. I don't understand."

"She stood in the way of Voldemort and what Voldemort desired the most, that is her only crime." She patted his back soothingly as his gut-wrenching sobs continued.

"Do you want to see any more memories?"

"I… I think I can manage one more for today. Show me one of you, show me a memory of you, Harry and your friend Ron. It seems the three of you were such an influence in my life and I want to know why."

She smiled softly. "Probably not the type of influence in your life you are thinking."

She fished around once more in her bag and uncorked the bottle, tipping the contents into the Pensieve.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Ready." He confirmed.

The both drifted through the shimmery, silver liquid once more, landing in Hogwarts. "I remember this place."

"I had no shadow of a doubt in my mind that you wouldn't remember this place."

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing to a blonde Slytherin boy sitting in the back row.

"Draco Malfoy," she confirmed.

"I should have known, looks just like his father at that age. Poor child."

Hermione had to stifle a giggle.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"

He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

It was lucky, perhaps, that both Harry and Ron started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.

"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention each for Potter and Weasley.

Severus turned to Hermione, his jaw slack and anger etched in every line of his face. Anger at himself.

She pulled them both from the memory, tears pricking her eyes, she had almost forgotten that, and now, now she was questioning why she was helping such a vile and cruel man Afterall.

The two sat in silence, neither wanting to say anything. The clock ticked on the wall, each tick driving her a little crazier.

"I'm sorry," He eventually blurted out. "I… I really was a wretch, a… a self-proclaimed cunt."

She waved a dismissive hand. "I'd forgotten all about it until now."

"Why are you helping, Hermione? I was obviously a terrible git to you and your friends. What do you get out of this?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just knowing that in the end, I get to help someone who cannot help themselves." She smiled weakly at him, packing her belongings up into the bag.

Pulling herself to her feet, she threw the bag over her shoulder. "I'll be back tomorrow with more memories. Rest up and you need all of the energy and healing you can get."

"I don't understand why you would give up your days to come and sit with someone as wretched as me."

"You aren't as bad as you think, Severus. Not even a little bit. You are selfless, so very, very selfless." She turned on her heel and left the room, wiping the stray tears that had started to fall. She really, really hated that memory.

 **A/N: Sorry everyone. I honestly didn't realise I hadn't updated this since the early weeks of April. It was never my intentions to leave you all hanging this long. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	9. Chapter 9

"H..Harry!" Hermione stuttered as she walked straight into the man's broad chest stepping foot out of her front door on her way to see Severus again. She hadn't even heard him apparate in. His large, muscular frame felt like she had walked head-first into a bring wall, teetering her off balance he gently righted her with ease.

"I heard Snape is awake." He looked her up and down for a moment, "Sorry, were you on your way out?"

Hermione stepped back, holding the door open she allowed the onyx haired man in, closing the door ever so softly behind him and followed him into the sitting room. "I was but it can wait." A dismissive hand was waved airily.

"Did you know Snape was awake?" He reiterated. Green eyes almost boring into her now and she almost felt as if she were on trial here. Guilty conscience gnawing at her psyche with vigour.

"Oh, really?" She feigned false innocence. Sitting next to him on a two-seater sofa, flicking her long locks of curls over her shoulder, they cascaded down her back like a chocolate waterfall.

"Mmmm," He hummed. "Apparently he has forgotten just about everything. I couldn't even fathom waking up from a coma and not remembering a thing. It must be incredibly terrifying for him."

Cocking her head to the side a single eye narrowed in thought. She had never thought of it like that before, she had never thought that perhaps he was not only confused but extremely terrified of the situation at hand. The problem with Severus Snape, even in his current situation was he was so incredibly stubborn and stoic. He could have a hippogriff hanging off his leg as it tried to devour him, and he would just wave a hand and pretend everything was okay in the world.

"And where did you find out all of this information? It hasn't exactly been splashed across the daily prophet." She spied a loose thread on the sofa and began to play with it aimlessly. She really, really wanted to get back out to see Severus and she couldn't exactly announce she was heading there. She didn't want Harry to know. Not yet, anyway.

"Kingsley told me."

Shit. This wasn't going to end well. If Kingsley had told Harry, she would be marching right up to him and hexing him into next year.

Her whole demeanour changed. She became stiff, jaw tight and her eyes glazed over. She was ready to deny or flee and avoid questions at all costs. All of a sudden, the rolling hills beyond the timber-framed window with the sun peeking over the hills basking them in it's warm, golden glow seemed much more exciting right now.

"I see," She managed to mutter stiffly.

"Are you ok, Hermione?" A single hand was placed gently on her knee in a comforting manner.

"Just fine," her voice a little too high pitched and forced to be taken seriously.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" His voice was heavy with accusation as she continued to stare out the window.

"Nothing at all!" She snapped harshly at him, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

"Because I went to see Snape and-"

Shit. Shit. Shit. This was not going to end well.

"And?" She bit heavily.

"And he said you had been visiting him for quite some time. Anything you want to tell me about?"

And there it was. Well then.

"Why would you go visit Snape?" She was seething. "You never cared about him before, Harry."

She stood and began pacing backwards and forwards, her jaw now so tightly clenched with stress, it was painful.

"Why would you go to visit him?" He countered softly, standing, he rounded on her fast, grabbing her by the wrists he stopped her from walking and forced her to stand still. "Why are you visiting Snape all the time, Hermione?"

"Why not?" Her chin jutted out in semi-defiance as her nostrils flared in anger. A flame flickered deep in her chocolate orbs. "He had nobody, Harry. Not a person who cared about him in the world. Is it so wrong? Is it so terrible that I have shown a little compassion towards another human being?" She snatched her wrists from his grip angrily.

"Snape?"! He threw his hands in the air, frustrated. "He never did anything nice enough for you to warrant you holding a bedside vigil by his side."

"He has done plenty for all of us, Harry. He sacrificed everything he had to keep YOU safe and by extension, it kept ME safe also. He spent a good portion of his life chasing after us at Hogwarts and beyond and ensured we didn't end up dead."

"Why does this mean so much to you, Hermione? Why do you visit him? Why are you helping him?" It was Harry's turn to pace the length of the room now in utter frustration. He couldn't believe the fact his best friend had kept this entire bit of information tucked up and out of sight for so long. If he hadn't have gone to see Snape himself, he would still be none the wiser to where she was going or what she was doing.

"Because Harry. Because I NEED him." Anger bubbled in the pit of her stomach as it churned violently. She shouldn't have to explain herself. She didn't want to explain herself.

"Why Hermione. How the fuck could you need Snape? What did the ghost of Christmas past show up to you in a dream and tell you that you had to marry him?" He mocked.

She shifted uncomfortably under his accusing gaze. Teeth grabbing bottom lip and began gnawing in worry. It wasn't exactly like that. Not exactly.

"I need him. For an experiment. She rummaged around on the coffee table and pulled a leather-clad diary from a pile of books. I have been keeping a log of everything that has happened. I call it the placebo effect. I worked out he would be the perfect candidate to do a trial on. He will be none the wise as to what I am putting him through and I get to prove whether a magical entities ability is to heal themselves via a placebo is possible."

"Don't lie, Hermione. I can read you like a book and I can see it in your eyes you are lying."

"I am not!" She huffed angrily.

"Liar. Just tell me the truth. There is something more, I see it lurking in the depths of your eyes. Something you are scared or worried about telling me."

Eyes gently closed in defeat; a soft sigh passed her lips. "When we went to the department of mysteries that time, do you remember?"

Harry rolled his eyes sarcastically. "No. I don't remember that at all," Sarcasm dripped from his every word heavily.

"When we went, I saw a prophecy. My prophecy, Harry. And I can't explain any of it, but I was married."

"So fucking what, Hermione? It's part of life, isn't it? Marrying and procreating. Those are basically all we were put on this earth to do."

"You need it spelled out, don't you, Harry? I was married…" She trailed off. A large, pregnant pause with little more than their breathing could be heard. "To Snape, Harry. I was married to Snape!"

His face fell instantly, mouth agape he couldn't process in his mind what she had just said. Snape? Hermione? All he could do was shake his head, cock it to the side in confusion and mutter, "What?"

"I couldn't believe it either when I first saw it." She slunk down onto the sofa, head held heavily in hands.

"So this whole placebo effect thing, is that just a cover?" Harry sunk down beside her in a daze. Hermione and Snape. Together?! He shuddered.

"That was part of the prophecy also. Which is why I pushed so hard for him not to be taken off the life support. I knew that it was my destiny to not only experiment on him but fulfil the prophecy and marry him."

"You realise you could have changed the prophecy, yeah? If you didn't push to save him, nobody else would and you wouldn't be stuck in the situation you are in now. Why are you so frustrating at times, Hermione?"

"It was the prophecy, Harry. It must happen. You can't just go around changing prophecy's once they are set in stone."

"You can, and you should have. All those prophecies were destroyed, and you would have been none the wiser had you not found yours. Now you have condemned yourself to a life of misery with that sour git." Harry pulled himself to his feet once more. This was hopeless, he had to leave.

"I'm going. I can't deal with this right now!" Harry admonished, showing himself out of Hermione's home, he apparated.

She growled, frustrated. Some days, she wished she had never set eyes on the stupid prophecy that had been moulding her life since she first saw it. She would admit she would find it hard to love Snape, let alone marry him and lay her body down for him. But the prophecy knew better, right? Or maybe, for once, it was wrong.

 **A/N: Hey everyone,  
Just a quick update so it appears I have actually made an effort for this story. I thought about deleting it, I won't lie, but so many of you have a vested interest in it that I felt bad even contemplating that so I shall push on slowly but surely. I won't update it as often as my other ones as there are a few I am trying to wrap up. Updates will be sporadic at best but I will get there eventually.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	10. Chapter 10

"You're looking better," Hermione beamed at Severus who was slowly pacing the floor of his hospital room, one foot after the other shuffling slowly along. The hospital gown he was now in stark white against his pale skin and dark hair. He still sported the facial hair he had grown but he would be making quick work of that soon. There was only one way he liked to look and that was clean-shaven.

"I'm feeling a little better," He admitted, puffing as he took the three steps back to his bed and sat perched on the edge, bare feet flat against the cold floor of his hospital room.

"That's great." She sat beside him and gently squeezed his knee. He looked down at her almost offended but didn't push her away. It was sort of nice to feel the touch of another person, he was so detached from the current world and all that was in it that it felt nice to feel the touch of another. Although she wasn't Lily and he really didn't know what to think of her he would welcome her touch for the moment. She seemed nice enough, well she had to be to come here and spend her free time holding a bedside vigil for him.

He wished he could place her in his life. She seemed so familiar but so distant at the same time, like the thought and memory of her was just sitting outside of his hippocampus by half an inch- almost like it was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't quite work it out-.

"Mmm," He hummed gruffly. Was it really great? Probably not. "How great can it be? I've lost my memory, the woman I was most fond of, my life, my job and my home. Is it really great that, Hermione?"

She weighed up what he said for a few minutes, the silence hanging thick in the air awkwardly as she tried to see it from his point of view. She supposed he had a point but at the same time, he had her, not that he really knew, she supposed.

"I know you have lost a lot, Severus. But you have to keep moving forward in life, when a door closes a window opens, yeah? Your situation might seem hopeless now, but you never know what might be lurking around the corner. You aren't alone, I am here, and you can come live with me when you are feeling up to it. I know it might not be the life you were accustomed to, but I will do my best to accommodate you." Again, she squeezed his knee gently hoping to reassure him and show him that she was there for him even in the darkest of times.

Whilst she didn't know the man intimately other than beyond the relationship they shared as teacher and student at Hogwarts, she knew if the prophecy was to be fulfilled that she would have to guide them both along the path to eventuality. She often wondered if she was pushing this too much because she knew what was supposed to happen rather than let it gently take the course to fruition. But if she didn't control the situation, it may never go the way it was meant to, and she hated not feeling in control. She knew where her life needed to head now, and she would push it as hard as she had to in order to see an outcome.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Hermione but I don't exactly know you all that well and from what you have told me, we were merely teacher and student at Hogwarts and nothing more. From the memories, I have seen I barely tolerated you and you had a deep-seated dislike for me and now you are here every day, offering to open your home to me and guide me along the path to find myself. I am sorry if I seem a little unappreciative, but I can't help but feel perhaps you are doing this for more gain than the fulfilling kindness feeling you would get helping a person out." He blinked gently, watching her eyebrows snap into her hairline and her mouth agape just so as if she were highly offended at what he had just said to her.

"With all due respect, Severus. There is no hidden motive to my actions despite what you may think. I am just a person who likes to try to fix the world one person at a time and if I can do that starting with you then I will go down that route. My only motive is to be a voice for the voiceless and the helpless. I know we may not be on the best of terms with one another, but I am a very forgiving person and I don't hold a grudge. I am offering you a home to stay in for as long as you see fit I will not be holding you there hostage and you are free to go and pursue other avenues when you feel like you need to do so." Ok, so she lied just a tiny bit… Of course, she had a hidden motive, but he would think she was off her tree if she told him they were going to fall in love and end up in a union of matrimony.

Heavy regard sat deep in his eyes, his head turned just so he caught her own gaze for a minute and the sincerity that crossed her features. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes for a moment as if defeated. He really did have no other option than to take her up on her offer and who knew, maybe something good may come of it. Maybe. Probably not but it was good to remain optimistic.

"I can relate I guess to your situation," she eventually said after a long pause. "I lost my parents… Obliviated their minds and sent them to Australia so they wouldn't be dragged into the Wizarding war and held captive as a motive for me. I've tried to reverse it but-"

"You can't reverse mind obliviation," he chimed in.

"Exactly." She sighed sadly, swiping a single hand at her cheek, passing off the tear that fell down her cheek as an itch she was scratching, and he couldn't help but feel a small pang of empathy for the girl. "I know it's nothing like you are going through, Severus, but you know… I guess I can relate to the losing people you care about thing." Her shoulders drew up into an upheaval as a sad sniff tore from her.

"Mmm," he hummed low in his throat not exactly sure what to say to her right now. It was hard losing someone you loved but it would be harder losing one's parents he assumed. "The Potter son came around to see me yesterday. He wasn't aware you were coming and visiting me." He quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell too much on where his life was heading right now or upset the girl any further than needed.

"Yes. He told me." She shifted on the bed, her hand still resting on his knee without realising she was still touching him. "You didn't remember him?" She asked in an upward inflection.

Head shook no, black hair flying to and fro gently. "I feel like I should remember. Something is sitting there in the tip of my memory as if waiting for something to trigger it and it will all come rushing back but right now, I am still stuck in limbo somewhere and I am trying to bring myself to the reality that the world has changed far beyond what I can comprehend."

"It's ok, Severus. I'll help you along the path you need to take. You aren't alone and you have me here through thick and thin." She squeezed his knee once more just as the nurse came into the room and she pulled her hand away lighting fast as if not wanting anyone to see she was showing him a sense of affection and comfort.

"Bandage change," She nurse chirped happily and Hermione took that as her cue to leave.

"I'll be back tomorrow, Severus." She smiled softly at him before leaving. Shutting the door softly behind her the tears she had been hiding behind the cheery façade began to slowly fall like tiny, glittering diamonds of sadness. She hated talking about her parents.

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for a long time between updates, I got sidetracked finishing another story and I had writer's block with the story but I pretty much have the plot all lined out in my head now and hopefully, I can update regularly from here on in.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	11. Chapter 11

"Miss Granger?" A tall medi-wizard stopped Hermione just as she was about to step into Severus hospital room, her daily ritual since he gained consciousness. She often found herself just talking about herself or showing him memories. Other times they talked about the people they both knew, and she would fill him in on the part of their lives that he had forgotten. Sometimes they just sat in silence when he was having a bad day; tiredness was a big factor with him. Of course, he appreciated having someone to come visit him and he looked forward to the visits, although he wouldn't let her know that. It sure beats sitting there alone day in and day out without a soul to care for you and for that he was appreciative.

"Yes?" She skidded to a stop abruptly, turning on the spot to face the man, aching her neck just a touch to look up.

"Severus is well enough to go home today. There isn't much more we can do for him. He can walk and feed himself and shower unassisted. He will need to gain more strength and the wound on his neck will possibly never heal. We've thrown everything at it, and it is just resisting. We've taken cultures and if we stumble upon anything that can kill the infection that is stopping it from healing, we will be sure to get him straight back in. He will be tired more often than not, but you already know that and don't take it personally if he lashes out at you never-ending pain will break a person down. We will have a nurse pop by every second day to change the bandage on the wound. Good luck."

"Right. Thank you." She nodded curtly. She wasn't expecting this, not today. There was so mention of this prior to today, not even a whisper of him being well enough to go home so it was quite the shock to her.

A small smile crept onto her face as she took the last few steps to his room. Finally, she could start the experiment she had been dying to try on him. It was quite simple really. She would pretend to brew him a potion that she would tell him she created herself in a hope that it was a cure for his wound. It was really just water mixed with a few herbs and some edible glitter was thrown in for good measure but the whole integrity of research hung on him and him alone. He had to think it was a secret brew and he had to have no second thoughts or doubts. Basically, if he drank it and he believed it was going to cure him and on the off chance it did then she would have irrefutable proof that wizards and witches could ultimately be healed by the placebo effect; the whole reason she wanted Severus to come live with her. Well, that and the whole he was meant to be her husband thing which was still incredibly foreign to her.

She pushed the door open to see him sitting on the side of the bed fumbling with the buttons on his robes. "I'm assuming you have heard the news?" She asked taking another step into the room.

He halted what he was doing for a second to look up at her, long black hair falling in his eyes as he did so. Now twice the length it was when he had taken ill and fallen into a coma. He stopped with the buttons for a moment and ran his hand over his chin. The long black hairs coarse and scratchy to the touch.

"I did and I can't wait to get all of this hair off. It's annoying and vulgar."

"I don't think it's vulgar, it kind of suits you but yes, well I will organise to get that done for you if that is what you wish, Severus." She shrugged as she watched him fumble with the buttons again.

"We will need to get you some clothes without so many buttons, hey?" Hermione stepped forward towards Severus as he sat on the hospital bed trying with all his might to do the buttons of his robes up. Fingers clumsily fumbled with a button and the frustration that was growing was evident on his face as he released a soft low angry growl is utter frustration.

She reached out a small hand to help him only for him to shove it away forcefully. "I can do it!" He bellowed with desperation and anger in his voice. He wanted to do it, he didn't want to appear weak or an invalid.

Taken aback she took two steps away from him and looked at the floor fiddling with her fingers to take her mind off that fact he had just yelled at her.

"I was only trying to help," she whispered looking up at him for a moment and noticed the utter frustration carved into every line of his face.

His expression softened just as he saw the hurt flash across her face and settle in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. This is just beyond frustrating for me! This whole being sick and stuck in a bed and the fact I was once healthy and able-bodied and now I can't even do up the bloody buttons that I used to be able to fasten with finesse and speed and now look at me!" His voice cracked at the utter helplessness he felt before he gave up and his hands rested in his lap. He couldn't do it, but he didn't want help.

"I know." She dropped a hand gently on his shoulder and squeezed it softly. "I will help you along the way. You may not regain all of your memories and you may never remember who I am but together we can make new memories." She smiled gently at him before searching the drawers and cupboards for anything that may belong to him. Sweeping around the room with ease and shoving what she found in the small black bag that hung from her right shoulder lazily.

"I still don't know why you are doing this." He looked at her with disbelief etched in his face and an uncertainty mingling in the pit of his stomach.

"Gathering your belongings?" She asked innocently getting on her hands and knees to ensure nothing had managed to be pushed under the bed.

"No." A dismissive hand waved freely in the air before him. "This. Taking me in."

She halted what she was doing and appeared from under the bed, pulling herself to her feet. "You know why I am doing it. The world needs to be a better place and what better way to set an example then to lead the way. The world needs more good deeds and kind people, Severus and I can't sit here and do nothing knowing you have nobody nor anywhere to live. Honestly, morally I couldn't do it." She shrugged, tucking the last of his belongings that she could into her small bag and clasping it shut soundlessly.

He sat on the edge of the bed staring at her in wonder. What would make an almost stranger carry out such a selfless act? Could it just be she was doing it because she wanted to right wrongs that had happened or was there something deeper?

His head was cocked to the side. It was suspicious but at the same time nobody had ever really done anything nice to him in his life, so he was always expecting the worst to come. Never letting down his guard nor relaxing. He couldn't. His life had been so full of betrayal and other people with the most insidious calibrated moral compasses that he couldn't trust.

"And what do you want off me, Hermione?" An eyebrow raised in question as two fingers tapped his bottom lip in deep thought.

"I don't want anything, Severus. Not a thing off you." She held his gaze strongly.

"You talk about morality, Hermione but is it not immoral to lie to a person? Are you doing this because you want to be a good, moral person or are you doing this so you can be rewarded for your good morals later? Is this intrinsic or extrinsic? Are you doing this because YOU want to do this for the warm fuzzy feeling within, or are you doing this because there is a chance of being rewarded with something at the end? People rarely are intrinsic, Hermione, so pardon me if I come off at a little suspicious."

"It's totally Intrinsic, Severus. I am doing this because I am rewarded by the feeling of having good morals. I am not doing this for any reward or to avoid punishment. I understand over the years you have had contact with less than desirable people who used and abused you beyond measure. Those people who used you for their ill-gotten gains and those people with total disregard for morality and all that was attributed to it and those are the people that will ultimately end up in hell."

He narrowed an eye at her as he caught the last of what she has just said. "Hell? Do you believe there is such a place, Hermione? I suppose you believe there is a heaven too?"

She nodded, confirming. "Well. Yes. I believe we must do as many kind and moral things in life to end up in heaven or face being tortured for an eternity. Do you believe in the afterlife, Severus? You must, surely. You cannot live in our world and disregard the possible."

He shifted his weight in the bed gently and patted the side of the bed for her to sit down. "I believe in the celestial world, yes. I don't, however, believe in heaven and hell, perse. I mean I think there may be somewhere like those two out there but not in the current capacity. Take us for example, we practice witchcraft and wizardry so that would have us ride the bus to the deepest depths of hell just for being born with magical ability, but you are a good person so where is the fairness in that? Heaven and hell are attached to the notion of religion. Sin and be cast to hell, lead a good life and you get a ticket to heaven. People believe that if someone is religious and sits in a church every Sunday that they must be a moral person with great values and those that don't go to church and don't have a religion are sinners and immoral people who will go to hell. Yet daily it is proved that those people that sit in church every Sunday with their hands gently folded in their laps are just as immoral and are just as tempted but fate as the rest of us and I don't believe afterlife works like that. Or it shouldn't."

He clambered to his feet slowly and began to try to do his buttons up again, focusing solely on them. "So, whilst I don't believe in heaven and hell, I think there is a good place and a bad place and what you do as a person will determine where you are sent no religion attached. Maybe every good deed you do you gets a set amount of points and if you are bad they are taken away. At the end of your life, they are tallied up and you are sent to wherever you are destined."

"So bad people go to the bad place and good people go to the good place and religion has nothing to do with it?" She tapped her fingers gently on her knee in thought. What he said was logical.

"Exactly. Now I know I will end up in the bad place that is a given and you with all of the amazing things you have done not only for me but others I am sure will be headed straight to the good place. But perhaps one may want to reconsider their lies before points are deducted." He looked pointedly at her. "You can't tell me you are taking me in just for the fuzzy feeling inside, Hermione. I know there has to be more to this."

She flushed pink for a moment because managing to compose herself. "What if bad people can become good when given the chance, Severus. You have the chance to change your ways and in the complicated and harsh world I know it's hard to be a good person but it's possible. It really is. Now, let's get you home." She stood and gently placed a hand on his shoulder and began to guide him from the room.  
 **  
A/N: Slowly this story is starting to come together finally after I thought it wouldn't and I sat here wondering why I was wasting my time on a story that wouldn't work. I hope you are all liking it so far. I am unsure how long it will be, and I won't be rushing it so you may see plenty of my other stories updated many times before I update this again.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	12. Chapter 12

The one thing Severus noticed as he stood out the front of Hermione's house was that is had charm. From the pitched roof to the large windows in which you could sit and watch the rolling hills for hours immersed in your own thoughts, set perfectly to catch the warm morning sun as it rose high above the hills in the summertime.

The house itself wasn't anything to write home about and you wouldn't even dare compare it with something like the Malfoy Manor but that is what made is so nice. It was cosy and homely. Of course, Hogwarts felt somewhat homely to him and he liked being there, it wasn't cosy like this, and his own home he inherited from his parents felt so industrialised and cold he may as well have been in prison. He just felt like he fitted well in the house with her eclectic styling and haphazard piles of books lying around, her collection vastly outgrowing the shelves in which she had to contain them and it was clear she hadn't bothered or maybe hadn't the time to organise new shelves within the home.

The house set amongst the rolling hills leading to nothingness and he wondered if perhaps she liked being alone to pick such a secluded spot. But then again, that didn't surprise him. She didn't seem the type to keep company or much of it anyway. She could tell that from the way her spare chairs were covered in piles of books.

She had been nothing but warm and welcoming since they floo'd into her home just a few hours ago. She had set him up in a spare room and given him a tour of the house. If he needed anything all he needed do was ask. He had to keep reminding himself why exactly did this young, pretty girl take him into her home and accommodate his every whim? People didn't just do this out of the kindness of their own heart, no. There was always something someone wanted and he would eventually come to find out what she wanted if it was the last thing he did in his life.

Needing to stretch his legs and take in some much-needed air after all the time he was cooped up within the hospital with little more than four walls to stare at and slowly send him crazy second by second. This was a nice change. The sun hung lazily over the hills beginning to set and the swallows in the trees above sang a melodic tune that slowly worked its way into his brain until he found himself softly smiling for the first time in a long time. Who knew that things he took for granted so many times before would end up being something he appreciated more than he would never come to realise?

The best part was the fresh, crisp air he could finally suck into his lungs, closing his eyes just so at the pleasure of being able to get in the fresh oxygen he inhaled deeply and sharply before exhaling and opening his eyes once again, taking in the exterior of the cottage a little more.

The charming little county cottage had a small front porch and was surrounded by gardens that looked as if she loving tended and spent her spare time creating, tending to and nurturing. Of course, that didn't surprise him one bit. Her whole personality seemed as if she was a nurturer… well, she had nurtured him tenfold and he didn't even ask for it.

If it wasn't for her, who knows where he would be? He wouldn't be out on his own because he was far too ill, and he no longer held a post at Hogwarts and who knew if he would ever go back there. Who knew if there would even be a position for him back there or if he even wanted to spend the rest of his days after what he had been through teaching little heathens who care for nobody but themselves.

He inhaled sharply as he continued to amble around the permitter of her garden, never straying past the front fence. His long legs stiff and slow wobbling as they carried his lithe frame around. Pale skin stark against the setting sun of the springtime, the warm air and the sun-kissed his skin.

The tight bandage still wound around his neck annoyed him to no end. Surely, he could take it off to air it out at some stage? Crooking his finger into a hook he gently wiggled it between the sensitive flesh of his neck and the bandage gently prying at it trying to loosen it just enough so he could get some relief from the constant pressure upon his throat.

"Severus!" Hermione's voice bellowed from the front door in a stern tone, floating down on the soft breeze.

He turned to see her trotting down the garden path towards him with a small vial clutched tightly in her hand.

"You can't be pulling that off! Imagine what bacteria you could expose your wound to. It could compromise your healing."

He just stood and stared at her blankly. He wasn't used to being told what to do by not only a former student but one much, much younger than he. He tried to process in his head why he should listen to her and not be defiant and he really couldn't come up with anything.  
His head spun slightly the more he tried to think and he came to the conclusion that he wasn't up for arguing or walking around the garden any longer.

"Take this." She thrust the small vial at him. The light silver liquid shimmered and shone like a diamond in the setting sun as he held it skyward and scrutinised it harshly.

He had no idea what it was and it made him suspicious. He uncorked it, taking in a generous sniff of the potion and to his surprise, it didn't have the slightest odour and he looked at her incredulously.

She held a hand up, stopping him from talking before he even got the chance to draw a breath in protest. "It's my own potion. I brewed it and I think it might be able to help heal your wound, Severus. I promise I am not drugging you or handing you a vial of poison that will see you keel over and die in the garden. I am just someone with a semi-keen interest in not only potions but helping those who can't get help anywhere else. If I can help just one person in the world who can't be helped by the standards ways and means of medicine and magic then I will die a happy person."

His eyes full of suspicion held her gaze for a fleeting moment before he dropped his eyes from hers back to the potion almost as if he knew he had nothing to lose. Bringing it to his lips he downed the contents in one generous sip and handed the small vial back to her. She reached out softly to take it her fingertips grazing his own as his hand twitched just slightly under her warm touch.

He still felt the same so that was good… Unless it was a slow-release poison and he would die a little later. No. Why would she go through all of this just to bring him home and end it? Shit, on second thoughts he just broke his cardinal rule because he was swayed by the pretty girl who had, in essence, saved him; never drink a potion he himself hadn't made without an in-depth list of ingredients and method used to create it.

"And what makes you think you can heal and help me where the best in the field at St Mungos failed?"

Her shoulders came up in a slight shrug as she tucked the vial in her pocket. "I don't think it will heal you at all. At this stage it is trial, and error and I am just doing my best with the knowledge I have acquired from reading some of the oldest books from the darkest depths of the earth. If I can heal you it means I will have created a potion that can heal others as well. If nothing happens then I haven't lost anything, and you are no worse for wear."

She began walking slowly back towards the house with Severus ambling gently by her side. "And may I ask what is in it?"

She stopped so abruptly she almost tripped over her own feet. "W… What's in it?" She blurted out carding a hand through her brown curls. What exactly was in it? Just water and edible shimmer she got from a cake store down in town one day when she was there. Nothing more and nothing less. Afterall this whole experiment lay solely on the fact whether he could heal himself with the placebo effect.

"I suppose a good witch never gives up her secrets." He began to walk on slowly again.

She exhaled the breath she was currently holding in and her whole body visibly relaxed. Thank Merlin he didn't press the situation anymore because she honestly didn't know how she was going to dig herself out of that hole.

"And I suppose I shall get dinner started for the night." She moved off again falling into step beside him.

He eyed her sideways and she was blissfully unaware he had done so. There was something unusual with this girl and he had to get to the bottom of her motives. Nobody was this nice to someone they claimed made their childhood a living hell. What was her ulterior motive he wondered silently to himself?

 **A/N: Just a quick filler chapter so you know I haven't abandoned you all! I promise this story will get finished eventually.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


	13. Chapter 13

_Day one:_

 _Severus took the placebo potion willingly with little question and no hesitation. I feel he will be the perfect test subject for my studies._

She slammed the small, black leather-bound book shut with a snap and sat staring at the wall of her small office wondering if this was, in fact, the right thing to do. Morally it was so wrong but logically if she could help heal him using nothing but the guise that he thought he was getting a potion to cure him well that would put her leaps and bounds ahead of others in that research field and in turn heal him back to good as new.

She couldn't help but feel an uneasy feeling gnawing at the pit of her stomach over all of this. What if he ended up finding out her motive behind helping him? It was the prophecy that he was to be her husband and it took her months to finally have this sit right with her. At first, she was in disbelief, then she felt sick and then that gave way to anger and finally after she had shed the last tear of anger she moved into acceptance, whatever will be will be and she knew she couldn't change fate. No one could and that annoyed her slightly. She was so used to have full control over her life and she wished she had never found out about the prophecy if she were honest and then she wouldn't have tried so hard to steer her life in that direction but then again maybe it was prophecy she was meant to find that out.

She jumped, startled when Severus darkened her doorway and cleared his throat.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, " he whispered softly leaning coolly against the doorframe, onyx eyes falling to the small black book in her hand and he tilted his head just so to try to get a better look at it.

She flushed crimson red. "Don't be silly, I was off with the pixies. Just my diary," she blurted out as she quickly shoved it into a drawer in her desk and slammed it shut. "I just like to write about my day so I can reference it if I ever need to."

"I see," he forced himself to spit-out, raising a single brow. He didn't believe that for one second. She didn't seem the type of person to do that. "Anyway, I was just coming to let you know I am off to bed for the night." He turned quickly on his heel, took half a step and turned back towards the door facing her once again.

"Something wrong?" She asked with an air of feigned innocents sitting ridged in the spot.

"I still want to know your motive behind all of this."

"I've told you, just someone doing something kind for another person. Is that such a crime?" She stood, stretching her hands above her head hearing her back crack rhythmically into place.

"If you say so." He shrugged and turned once again leaving her standing alone and wondering how long it would be until he worked out something was off. How long until he worked out that she was using him and duping him into thinking she was trying to save him. And then what? He would be angry of course, livid probably and there would be no reasoning with him and she wouldn't blame him because in the grand scheme of things she was gaining his trust for all for the wrong reasons and she hated herself for that.

She sighed, frustrated and stomped the path to her bedroom not caring how loud she was on the way down the hall.

o-o-o-o-o

Severus awoke the next morning and peered out of the window as the early morning sun crept up over the fields beyond Hermione's house bathing them in a blissful golden colour. After dressing and readying himself for the morning he made a beeline to bask in the golden glow of the warming rays in Hermione's front garden. Of course, he didn't go as fast as he had anticipated in his head. All of the time he has spent in the bed had really weakened him and it was evident that the muscles in not only his legs but his whole body had diminished and he was half the man he used to be. He hated looking in the mirror at the man he had become. He felt weak and useless.

He ran a shaky hand across his chin, still sporting the long hair that had grown on his face. He wanted to be rid of it eventually but maybe not yet because it was hiding his sallow skin and sunken cheeks. He was never 'handsome' and he never really cared about his looks but to look that sick, well, he hated that.

The sparrows began to awaken from their nest and sing their jovial songs and the flowers slowly began to open for the morning rays of light on their soft, delicate petals. He sat on a small bench seat that was pressed up a cobblestone wall that created part of her gardens fence and he stretched his arms high above his head all whilst basking in the warm morning sun.

He never thought he would actually enjoy the morning sun on his pale skin, nor did he ever think he would welcome the song of the sparrow, but when you almost died it is amazing how your perspective on life changes. Closing his eyes and breathed steady and slow as a soft morning breeze whipped over his face and he found himself smiling.

He wondered if Hermione was up yet. He hadn't seen her, and it got him thinking again just what was her motive? Maybe she really was telling the truth and she didn't have one at all, but it was highly unlikely that someone went to this much trouble without rhyme or reason. Although he hadn't really been around the type of people who did things just to be nice. He shrugged to himself opening his eyes once again admiring the lovely garden.

Along the front wall, there was lavender planted a few rose bushes for good measure and an apple tree the centre of the garden surrounded by daffodils and daisies and he could tell by how precise everything was planted and how perfectly spaced each plant had been placed that Hermione liked to have full control of her own life.

A soft squeak of the wooden garden gate roused his interest and his head snapped to the source. He stopped for a moment looking at the person walking up the path and he wondered if he should welcome them or sit on the seat and pretend that he was blissfully unaware of their arrival. He chose to greet them.

"Potter," he rasped softly.

Harry froze on the spot not yet noticing Severus was sitting in the garden and stopped, frozen to the spot. "Pr- Err Se, Snape," he stumbled over his worlds unsure how he should address the elder man sitting alone in the garden. "Good to see you on the mend. Is Hermione around?"

"I haven't seen her yet this morning, I am assuming she is still asleep at this early hour."

"Severus are you o-" The soft voice of Hermione floated down the garden path from the front of her house. The slamming of the screen door alerted them to the fact she was clearly awake a on her way, out and heading down the garden path to see them.

"There you are, Severus." She sounded relieved; the purple glittering potion clutched tightly in her hand.

He eyed it. He would take it and continue to do so but he had a myriad of questions for her he would bring up later over dinner because something didn't sit right with him. The best doctors in the Wizarding world couldn't brew a potion to heal him but she could.

"Harry!" She beamed once she realised, he too was in the garden, trotting down the path and threw her arms around the boy with vigour.

Severus watched the greeting unfold before him, head tilted slightly as he watched the exchange. The hug was deep and lingered which told him there was or had been more than friendship at some stage there. Once they broke apart Potter was ever so reluctant to let her go and when they finally parted ways, he left a hand placed gently on her shoulder.

"Severus, you need to drink this." She stepped forward towards him, Harry's hand slipped silently from her shoulder and Severus was sure a flash of disdain flashed through the boy's eyes.

She handed the vial to Severus and turned back to Harry. "What can I help you with on this fine morning?" She asked in an upward inflection.

"Just bringing those few books back that I borrowed." He fished around in his pocket and pulled out two, tiny leather booked in the palm of his hand and handed them to Hermione before whipping his wand out and setting them back to their regular size.

"Thank you." She smiled warmly but her attention was focused solely on Severus and ensuring he drank the potion. She needed to witness every move he made with every potion to ensure he did, in fact, drink it. She didn't need any variable thrown into the mix. She had it in her head he would drink the potion twice a day for a month and she would assess from there and work out if anything was happening or if the exercise was in vain and nothing should deviate from her plan or it may jeopardise the study.

Harry shifted uncomfortably on the spot being totally ignored he realised where Hermione's interested currently lay and they weren't in entertaining him and cleared his throat. "I best be off Hermione." He stepped forward and gave her another hug.

"Severus." He nodded curtly to the man who did the same in turn.

"You can stay for breakfast if you like, Harry," Hermione called out to Harry who had made it halfway back across the garden. He only waved a hand dismissively and vanished from view once he walked out of the gate.

Hermione sighed forlornly and sat next to Severus on the bench. Her pale, well-toned bare leg brushed against his own and he sucked in a shuddery breath. The shorts she wore stopped mid-thigh and didn't really leave much to the imagination if he did say so himself.

"Excuse me if I am talking out of turn here but is there or was there something more between you are Potter once upon a time?"

"W-What makes you think that?" She almost snapped her mouth going dry and the blood draining from her face.

"I see the way he looks at you. I see the look in his eye, the way he lingers longer than you do when you hug which leads me to believe you may have called it off and he wasn't ready to let go. In his head, there is more than just friendship and he wants more but you deny him that."

She sighed once more and sat silent for a minute before speaking once again. "There was something, a while ago. We slept together and it was just meant to be something to curb the loneliness each of us felt after the war. I called it off eventually and he didn't take it too well. He wanted to continue, but he wasn't part of the plan… Part of my plan. He isn't the person I am meant to marry."

"Meant to marry?" He tilted his head at this revelation wondering how she knew who she was meant to marry.

She went silent once again as if trying to process something in her head as she slowly pieced an excuse together to cover up the slight slip of her tongue. "He isn't the type of person I could see myself marrying. That is what I meant. Someone taller and darker is probably my preference." She leaned back coolly against the chair, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

Wait. What the fuck was that meant to mean? Severus pondered, literally biting his own tongue to stop him pressing for any more answers. This was getting weird.

 **A/N: I promise I haven't abandoned this. If a story is still up, it will eventually be completed. If it has been deleted… well … that is the end of the road.**


	14. Chapter 14

A week had passed slowly and uneventfully. They two falling into their daily routine quote quickly and easily.

Severus would wake, go sit in the garden till Hermione called him in for Breakfast. Then he would read and rest till noon, have lunch, walk around the garden trying to strengthen his muscles and increase his fitness then he would nap for an hour or two and by that time Hermione was banging on his door to hand him his potion and dinner followed shortly after. It was quite simple and uneventful and a vast difference to the past life he knew once upon a time.

At dinner one night he had brought up his concerns in regard to the potion. If the best medi-wizards in the world couldn't heal him, why would a girl not long out of Hogwarts be able to do so? Two plus two equalled four but in this case, it didn't add up at all and he was determined to dig his way to the bottom of this situation.

"Excuse me for asking this Hermione, but how does a witch of your age, not long leaving the halls of Hogwarts become so knowledgeable in dark magic and magical creatures? If the medi-wizards at 's couldn't find a cure, what makes you think you could?" He watched her intently. The way she moved and the way she held her eyes told him a lot of what he needed to know; she was lying. He only wished he could delve into her mind for a poke around but he was much too weak and to be able to execute that faultlessly.

She stopped cutting her chicken and laid her knife and fork down on the table with a soft clatter. This. This was the one question she was hoping he would never ask but the one she had been rehearsing over and over again in her head should she ever need to explain herself.

"I travelled. I knew Nagini was a Burmese mountain python but it stumped me that you had become so ill when they are not venomous. Usually, they grab their prey by their teeth and then constrict them until their prey suffocates and not attack in the way she did so to you. I travelled to South East Asia where she may have originated from. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I found an underground magical commune who knew of a small cluster of pythons that had exhibited some magical ability. They weren't sure how or where they came from, only that they seemed almost able to understand human language. They suspected she came from there and that he… Voldemort… may have heard about the colony of snakes and took a liking to that particular one. They had one of their own bitten by another python, but the effects weren't as great as yours which led them to believe Nagini was handpicked by… him… Voldemort, for the dark magic she possessed. I brewed up the potion recipe they gave me with stronger ingredients and now we wait and hope.

It was partially true. She did, in fact, visit the furthest reach of Southeast Asia and she really did find out the information about the snakes, however, the small detail about them giving her the potions recipe was in fact a lie because they had actually had one of their own die from a bite and they informed her the prognosis of Severus's bite would probably much be the same, but here he was.

His dark eyes softened just so as he watched her intently. Did she really travel across the world just for him? Just for his cause? Why?

"Why?" He asked a blunt question with little meaning or context.

"Why, what?" She picked her fork back up and began pushing a lone piece of chicken around the plate, not at all hungry anymore.

"Why would you go to all that trouble for me? I know people who wouldn't have gone to that much trouble for their own family but you traipsed across the world for me, someone who was a giant prick to you apparently, and yet you went to the trouble of trying to find a cure for me going as far as tracking down where Voldemort acquired his snake."

"I have my reasons. And my reason is I want to be a kind and caring human being. If that is so wrong, then take me to Azkaban now because I won't stop." She breathed heavily through her nostrils, pushing her plate away from herself across the table.

He studied her again. She was so headstrong and stubborn it was almost maddening to him. She lied well, almost too well if she did say so himself. He knew deep down she was hiding something, lying to him for her own gain but he wasn't yet sure what that gain was.

o-o-o-o-o-o

After dinner, the two sat in silence in Hermione's small sitting room. She had shelf upon shelf of books that were quite literally bursting at the seams. Some of the bookshelves so overladen with books they had begun to sag under the immense weight and looked as if they would fall over in the next light breeze that blew through the house.

Hermione owned a television but she rarely used it and if she did it was only when there was a rainy day and she couldn't do anything outside in the garden or didn't feel like going anywhere. Her small coffee table that had been set in the middle of the room was so overrun with books and magazines you couldn't see the surface through the items piled up two and three tall.

Her lack of organization in this room gave Severus a mild aneurysm every time he sat in here with her. He was simple, no clutter and a place for everything, but not here. Not Hermione. She wasn't like that at all. She seemed the type that had ten projects on the go and would abandon one to start another and then abandon that one long forgotten for the next; rinse and repeat never to go back to the original one and complete it. Overactive minds worked like that he supposed and hers seemed to be running non-stop.

His fingers itched to straighten shelves and dust books, he wanted to organise and re-arrange. The fact one shelf of books was just thrown in haphazardly without spines showing gave him a small eye twitch, yet Hermione was totally oblivious to it all. She seemed so organised in every other aspect of her life, but the organisation of her books was her one downfall. Of course, she loved her books very much and treated them well but she was always pulling them out to reference thing she never saw the point in properly organising them.

"Can I please tidy these up?" He asked, in a monotone voice, trying not to grit his teeth at the discomfort he was feeling looking at the mess.

She snapped the book shut she was reading with a loud snap and looked at him curiously. "But I know where everything is. If you rearrange it I won't know and won't be able to find what I need." She harrumphed, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

"Or you could, you know, just accio it when you are in need." Shoulders shrugged high.

"Or, you could leave them as is and I wouldn't have to accio anything," she countered.

He only rolled his eyes. She could be headstrong and difficult at times, obviously, the Gryffindor clawing its way to the surface, but he could handle that. He supposed he had no other choice because he needed her more than anything right now… he had no one and he wasn't well enough to venture out into the wide world on his own. His magic was still depleted and of zero use to him because he was so weak.

"Do you honestly need this magazine? It's from-," He stopped and looked at it scrunching up his face, "two years ago."

She pulled herself to her feet and walked the three steps over to him and slunk down beside him, squeezing herself into a gap that was just big enough for her to fit in, but a gap that didn't afford him the personal space he had before she decided to wedge herself beside him.

She snatched the magazine from his hand gently and held it up. "And what if I need something from it one day and it isn't here to reference?" She placed it upon her lap and began to flick through it looking for something to prove a point.

"Like this!" She pressed her index finger hard to an article.

"Really? You may need to reference back to a recipe on rock cakes?" He raised a single brow in question.

"Well... Yes." She said defensively tightening her lips.

"And have you ever, in the past, ever used that magazine recipe to make rock cakes?"

"Well. No. But I might one day." She awkwardly put the magazine back on the table and plucked another one up. "And this one, I keep because of the article of Neville."

She thumbed through the magazine quickly, locating the article she wanted and handed it to Severus. Maybe that might help with his memory.

Severus scanned the article quickly, eyes darting backwards and forwards across the glossy words and stopped at the bottom to look at the photo of Neville. He cocked his head to the side gently as if trying to process something in his head. But surely, it couldn't be the same person?

"This is the same Neville whose ability at potions was sub-par at best and disastrous more often than not? The same one who I recall blew up one of my cauldrons during a lesson?" He was trying to wrap his head around how the shy, introvert child that was once scared of his own shadow looked to be blossoming into the next brilliant herbologist of their time. Interesting.

"That is the one and only Neville Longbottom. Bless him." She smiled gently, closing the magazine and placing it on the table, stopping mid-way, eyes wide she turned to look at him as if what he had just said registered in her mind.

"You remember Neville!? She exclaimed so loudly, it caused him to jump in fright.

"I… I guess I do." Eyes widened at the revelation that had unfolded and she wondered if in due time he would remember other key points of interest and other people. Maybe he may even remember Hermione and that is what worried him. He didn't want to remember being that terrible person he was to her after she had been so kind to him. He didn't want the stark reminded he was a giant arsehole to her.

"This is brilliant!" Hermione beamed, almost throwing herself into his lap and dragging him into a hug.

He wrapped his arms stiffly and awkwardly around her back in return and froze on the spot. He wasn't used to having women throw themselves at him and especially not ones that weren't trying to kill him. He could get used to this.

 **A/N: Please accept this small offering in a bid to keep you all interested in the story. It's a slow burn, I know, but I didn't want to rush in straight away and proclaim their love for one another, I want them to have to work for it. I basically have the rest of the story plotted out in my head and I know exactly where I want it to go.**

 **-Aliasmel1**


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